Is Pakistan truly a sovereign and independent country?
#IndependenceDay
#Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947. However, even after the passage of 78 years, the question is whether Pakistan is truly a sovereign country to make its own decisions? Is Pakistan’s system of governance credible? Are the courts, from top to bottom, autonomous and in delivering justice? Is any institution, any sector, judiciary, politics, media, economy are truly autonomous?
Pakistan may be called independent, however, the reality is that it still remains a slave to the superpowers. When we have never attained genuine freedom, what exactly are we celebrating on Independence Day?
The historical truth is that the feuds who sided with the British Colonial regime during the subcontinent’s freedom struggle, suppressing and crushing the freedom fighters, were rewarded with Pakistan itself. However, they were never given the authority to formulate their own policies. Even today, the international powers still dictate what Pakistan’s foreign policy should be.
As a matter of fact, we are still governed by the very laws and penal codes the British left behind. Today, Pakistan is being ruled by the “Black Englishmen.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his Independence Day address, asserted that the creation of Pakistan was a victory for the Two-Nation Theory. My question to him is this: Under the Two-Nation Theory, Muslims in the subcontinent were told that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations, with different religions, lifestyles, and cultures. They were told that after the British left, Hindus, being the majority, would enslave Muslims, and therefore Muslims needed a separate homeland.
If Pakistan was created for all the Muslims of the subcontinent under this theory, then why were all Indian Muslims not settled here? Why was Pakistan unable to become a shelter for them? Even today, India has a larger Muslim population than Pakistan.
Why were Pakistan’s borders close to them? Was this not against the spirit of the Two-Nation Theory? Was it not a betrayal of the Muslim minority provinces of India?
If religion alone defined two nations, Hindu and Muslim, then how did the Bengali nation come into being? How did two nations turn into three?
How did Bangladesh come into existence?
In light of these facts, is it wrong to say that the Muslims of India’s minority provinces were betrayed under the name of the Two-Nation Theory? I am ready to debate this issue with all historians and intellectuals of the country.
After the creation of Pakistan, those who migrated from India, the Muhajirs, were never wholeheartedly accepted. Their patriotism was always questioned. Despite their sacrifices in creating Pakistan and their tireless work in building the country’s framework, they were later discarded like an unwanted element. The country fell into the hands of the British-serving feudal lords, landlords, and the elite.
Those who didn't take pains for the inception of Pakistan have become the proprietors.
The Muhajirs of East Pakistan, known as Biharis, supported the Pakistan Army in 1971 to save the country. After the fall of Dhaka and the creation of Bangladesh, 90,000 Pakistani soldiers who had surrendered returned home after two years in Indian captivity. However, the Biharis who sacrificed everything alongside the army to save Pakistan remain stranded in Red Cross camps in Bangladesh even after 54 years, living in miserable conditions.
Why have they not been brought back? Is it because they are Muhajirs? Do these people, who twice sacrificed everything for Pakistan, have no right over this country? Is it treason to ask this question? Is it treason to demand one’s rights? Is it fair and just to treat Muhajirs as second or third-class citizens in every sector and to unleash state oppression upon them when they demand justice?
The new generation of Muhajirs must think: Are these not facts? Should we remain silent over these injustices, or should we struggle against them?
Altaf Hussain.
London.
297th public address on TikTok on August 13, 2025.
(Watch complete address) 
https://youtu.be/EV9DnFDvqZA?si=UFTJnlTia41mIvLp
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